Moving away from psychiatric diagnoses, one post at a time

‘Nourish that ego’

Where does this title come from? It’s part of the latest in a string of abusive (unpublished) comments that have come my way via an anonymous troll. Let me give you this little gem in full:

‘Made the health and wellbeing longlist in @BlogAwardsIE as well – chuffed 🙂

The attention seeker is getting the attention. Nourish that ego now, you swine.‘

I’m particularly taken by the fact that s/he has gone to the trouble of not only reading my blog, but also following me on twitter as the first half of that quote is something I posted myself in relation to the blog awards.

Dearest troll, I dedicated a post just to you almost six months ago as you had been with me for quite some time and I thought your dedication required recognition. At the time I promised I’d say no more on it. I’ve ignored you since, although I admire your persistence. Your imagination does leave a little to be desired. I’m assuming (I think quite safely) that you are only one troll, as the comments do tend to follow a certain theme.

I considered disabling anonymous comments, but that prevents people who genuinely have something to say but would rather do so in the safety of anonymity from contributing. I (briefly) considered publishing all of your comments but thought the better of it. Sometimes they made me laugh. Sometimes they were like a small stone in my shoe, an irritant that could be easily dismissed. Generally, I ignored them.

Is this how it is for you?

Mostly, as I did then, I feel for you. There is no way you have kept up with me this long just to throw abuse at me. My writing must strike a chord with you, whether or not you want to acknowledge it. I’m guessing that those posts you comment on are the ones that hurt the most.

I’m sorry for you that you have so much anger in you. It must be hard to carry that around all the time. I’ve no doubt I’ll be seeing you again, but will you ever be brave enough to come out from behind the anonymity and insult me to my face? I have the support of a lot of good people, and while your comments may sometimes scratch a little, I never take them to heart.

So why am I addressing you again? Because what you’re doing is pathetic, shameful, small minded, and occasionally dangerous. I don’t expect thanks for what I share, I don’t expect people to agree with everything I say. I write about me, and my experience. There is no right and wrong, there’s only what I know to be my truth. Nothing you can say can change that.

So, if I continue to upset you, maybe instead of hurling vitriol at me, you could consider asking for help? Or if not, well, PFO.